Dungeons and Deceit
by Serena Thorn
Summary: After Rumpelstiltskin's capture and imprisonment, Red Riding Hood can think of nothing more than how to see him. Without her friends discovering their secret, that is.


Title: Dungeons and Deceit  
>Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not owned by me but by ABC. I'm just borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.<br>Characters: Red Riding Hood/Rumpelstiltskin, Snow, Ella, Grumpy, Sleepy, mentions Doc, Granny and Thomas  
>Summary: After Rumpelstiltskin's capture and imprisonment, Red Riding Hood can think of nothing more than how to see him. Without her friends discovering their secret, that is.<br>Notes: This was written for onceuponaprompt on LJ, table: c, prompt 05. detour

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><p>Red Riding Hood was taking her time as she walked through the woods from her grandmother's house. She had no reason to be in a hurry. When she had left Granny she had been headed to bed, her princess friends were doing whatever it was they did in their castles and there wasn't a reason for her to go to the only other cottage she wished to be. She would just be alone there as well, just as alone with her thoughts.<p>

She wasn't sure how long she had been walking for when she heard a few familiar voices not too far from her.

"I'd say we got it done just in time," one of the male voices stated.

"Definitely. And the royals can rest assured he won't be getting out of there any time soon," another added.

Red stopped as she recognized now that it had to be the dwarves talking. She certainly recognized Grumpy's voice. And while she might not typically eavesdrop on conversations, the idea of someone being trapped made her curious even as they seemed to be coming closer.

"Every castle has a dungeon for a reason. I'm just glad the prince asked us to build the prison. No way that Imp's getting out of that one."

"How would you know? You slept through the whole thing!"

"Not the whole thing!" Sleepy protested.

Red might have laughed at the ensuing debate and Doc trying to break up the subsequent fight, but now she knew what they were talking about. She, like everyone else in the Enchanted Forest, knew of Rumpelstiltskin's capture. But now it seemed she was finally hearing where he had been taken to that night. Of course the Charmings would want to know where he was, to be sure they would be safe from him. It only made sense he would be imprisoned beneath their own castle.

She wasn't sure herself if she should be even somewhat relieved by the news or even more worried. Though there was a sudden swell of thankfulness she felt at already having befriended those particular princesses long ago. Still, a plan seemed to be forming in her mind even as she cut through a patch of trees in the hope of the dwarves not seeing her. Ordinarily she wouldn't have minded, but she knew she couldn't risk them knowing she had heard them.

Red had never enjoyed deceiving her friends. She also never imagined she would come to the Charmings' castle under such false pretenses. Snow and Ella had wanted to see her, to visit with her since Red was so rarely at their parties and had even missed Ella's wedding. And Red, usually, appreciated it as any good friend would. But tonight she had another reason to be there; though she could hardly admit it to the other women.

She smiled and laughed, drank their wine and was her usual pleasant self. Though fleeting, she attempted to enjoy her time with her friends as she normally would. But since those few nights ago when she had overheard the dwarves speaking of Rumpelstiltskin's prison, her thoughts had only become centered around how to find a way down into the dungeon without their knowing.

Red already had so much to protect, far more than one her age should. The forest, her grandmother and of course her reputation as a fighter for the side of good, even guarding what was perhaps her greatest secret. Yet here she sat attempting to smile through her inner turmoil as her friends Snow and Ella seemed to speak of anything but what was clearly on their minds instead.

Red couldn't relate as they spoke of their wedded bliss, though Ella's had been delayed in a sense. Nor could she relate to how happy they were about becoming pregnant, talking of how they couldn't wait to raise their daughters together. However both women were also clearly worried for their children. Before the secrets, threats, and prophecies had come spilling out, Red had been happy for her friends. But she couldn't help but feel a little left out as well. Particularly when she knew she would be taking her own freedom into her hands if she so much as breathed her lover's name in their presence.

"Oh, dear, here we are talking about ourselves again. Forgive us, Red," Ella smiled apologetically to her. "How about you tell us how life has been on your side of the forest? How is your granny?"

"Granny isn't entirely well. But I'm hopeful she will recover soon," she nodded before she took another sip from her wine goblet.

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry, Red. Would you like for me to send Doc to her? Maybe there's something he can do for her?" Snow asked.

"That's very kind of you, but no. He has already seen her, he seems hopeful as well. For now we're happy to at least have that." It wasn't a particularly happy subject for her, not when the idea of losing her grandmother truly terrified her; particularly with how calm Granny seemed to be about it. But it was still simpler for her to speak of that rather than how her own friends had worked to take her lover from her, as well as his magic from him.

Red tried not to blame them, especially as no one had known of their relationship. But he was the only one in all of the Enchanted Forest who could truly heal her grandmother and make her feel safe. Her own friends' actions had robbed all three of them of that chance. Of course Red still would have had to give him something in return for healing her grandmother, but after a while Red had rarely minded the things he would ask of her.

As though that weren't enough, nights in the forest were always cold. At his cottage there would always be a fire burning in the fireplace of his bedroom as they slept. The cold often long forgotten as they laid together as close as they could be, not even the barriers of their bed clothes to separate them. She missed it more than she could bear, even more so now when she knew where he was, where he had been all this time.

While true Red couldn't speak of it, at least then she had been able to relate to things her friends said as they spoke of love. To their knowledge she had no man in her life. No lover, certainly no husband and potentially not even any prospects as she would turn away every prince and woodsman they would attempt to introduce her to and who asked her to be theirs.

No princes or woodsmen, nor even fellow hunters had interested her. Since she was a child, since that fateful day the wolf had attacked her and her grandmother, only her quest to rid the forest of its dangers had been her focus. Not marriage. Nor children. Her friend's wishes and goals simply were not her own.

Not until the Imp. The very _thing_ they had all attempted to warn her away from. He had been so different from those princes and woodsmen, so certain of everything, so charismatic. Even downright charming on occasion. Perhaps he didn't have the look of a prince, but she found herself attracted all the same. And the deliciously wicked things he would whisper in her ear coupled with his addictive touch more than made up for his appearance. All the while she knew her friends were terrified to even speak his name, even while they had him caged beneath their castle. But he had intrigued her. Far more than she had initially liked. He had made his intentions known early enough on and soon, even despite herself, she had been the one coming to find him.

Tonight would be no different.

She remembered the night he had been captured, had seen Snow and Ella clinging to each other as Ella cried in her relief that that they would finally be safe from Rumpelstiltskin. As she had come running up to see what the commotion was about in an attempt to disguise that she already knew, Red's heart had sunk with those words.

He had known something was coming, had warned her, had asked her to join him that night, to help him with part of his own plan. She had and she had lured Thomas away from Ella as he had told her to do.

Thomas was still safe, though Ella would hardly know that any time soon. And what had originally been meant as a sort of trade for Rumpelstiltskin to be sure he would get what he had been promised had since become Red's own slight form of revenge. Until she had her love back why should she help Ella find hers? They were friends, yes, but to Red's mind Ella had betrayed Rumpelstiltskin for doing nothing more than wishing to collect on the payment he had been promised by her. She knew Ella had told him she would give him anything, she had signed one of his famed contracts to prove it. And still this.

"Are you sure you're alright, Red?" Snow asked her as Red took a long gulp of her wine and finished it much sooner than she had hoped.

"I'm afraid not," she admitted as she set the goblet down. "Would you mind terribly filling this with more wine?" she asked as she bent down slightly to reach beneath her skirt and petticoat for the flask she had hidden in her boot.

"Of course not. Are you thinking of your granny again?" Snow asked her. The poor girl was clearly running herself ragged with worry, she was almost willing to offer her one of the rooms to stay for the night but Red so often turned those offers down in favor of her own bed.

"Thank you, it always seems to help her," Red stated as Snow handed the now full flask back to her. It wasn't a lie. Granny did often feel better after a flask of wine as it helped her to sleep. Though tonight it wouldn't be for her.

After another several moments and yet more talk of Granny, Red finally excused herself from the main room, also not entirely lying when she said she needed to step outside for some fresh air.

However instead of favoring that crisp night air, Red left the main room to go about her search and took a sharp detour as soon as she reached the castle doors. She still hadn't managed to find her way down to the dungeon before, but she knew tonight would be the night that would change.

Just as the castle was a true palace, the dungeon could be mistaken for nothing less than the fortress it was. Hidden away as if they all hoped to forget its existence. Red could hardly ask the way, even dare mention it more than once without fear of her friends catching on to her plan.

It had been through whispers in the forest who had overheard the dwarves as they had been building it that gave her an idea of which corridor to head down. And which door would lead to the stairs that would descend her into the dim, dank, and cold place most would say she had no place in being.

She dared not call out, managed to not even make a sound when she caught sight of what for a moment had looked like a shadow. She attempted to not even breathe for fear someone might hear her.

However none of that made her wish to turn around. As it was she saw not even a single guard. Perhaps they felt the cage they had built for him was sufficient enough that they need not waste their knights on him. And why would they think otherwise when as far as they knew they had rid him of any magic he could use to escape? True she was no match for the strength of the bars herself, but tonight wasn't about his getting him out no matter how much she wished she could. Instead tonight was about finally seeing him again, seeing for herself that he was better than she had feared.

Her boots continued to sink softly in the muck as she walked. She knew then that it was best she had left her cloak behind no matter the cold that seemed to already be reaching her bones. It only would have only served to reveal her identity perhaps even more quickly than her face would.

She would have been surprised to know it was her scent that gave her away. At least to one who knew her as he did. He could even smell the wine on her.

"Didn't they tell you this is no place for good little girls?" that all too familiar, playful voice asked when he knew, even without turning to look at her, that she was mere steps from the bars of his prison.

"Then I suppose it's lucky I'm not such a good little girl anymore," she smirked as she laid her hands against a pair of the bars, wishing to touch him.

At that he turned, and smiled. She had been; so innocent, so pure... once. But since her lust for adventure and for the shadows had claimed her, she had been his. And so eager to please at that. He was sure that was part of the reason she had finally made her way down to him despite the risk of her friends finding her.

"I have something for you," Red told him, reaching under her skirt and petticoat to her left boot once again.

"A present?" he asked, his voice bordering on downright musical as he all but danced towards the bars and to her.

"Just a little something that might help pass the time for a while," she replied as she held up the flask before handing it over to him.

"Oh, you darling girl. Always knowing just what I need," he sighed before he opened the flask and took a long sip of what he found to be wine.

"Someone has to make sure you're taken care of while you're away. It doesn't seem the others care enough to. And, truly, this does seem a little closer to what we've grown used to." When he pulled the flask away from his lips and looked back to her, eyebrow cocked, she clarified, "With me sneaking off in the night to a place I'm told I'm not supposed to be just to see you. Running to your cottage just isn't the same anymore."

"You mean since I've been locked up, Pet?" he asked as he reached through the bars to stroke her long dark hair.

"Exactly," she all but pouted.

Despite the reason for it, Rumpelstiltskin almost found himself smiling at her pout. Here she was, one of the fiercest and feistiest defenders of the forest; yet it was knowing that, for the time being, she would continue to be kept from him that could still bring such a childish expression to her face.

"It's nice to be missed, dearie," he told her finally, letting his hand wander just slightly over her bodice. "But don't you think that soon I won't be the only one to be missing you?"

He was right, if she wasn't back upstairs soon Snow and Ella might come looking. But that didn't mean she was happy about having to leave him. Even her body seemed to be rejecting the idea as she canted into his touch.

With an as impassioned kiss as they could manage with the bars of his prison separating them and a promise to return, she was gone. Out of the dungeon, back into the castle and back into the main room where her friends seemed to be talking as though she had never left. Still, Red almost smiled as she reclaimed her seat. If they barely knew she was back then they were clearly none the wiser of where she had gone, who she had seen, or who she was already planning to return to see as soon as she could.

Red had known from the beginning that it would be a struggle should she grow to have actual feelings for the Imp. First there were the other dangers of the forest when she had strayed from the safe paths. Then had come the chance of her granny discovering their secret, or even their coupling on the nights he had been bold enough to sneak in to see her on the nights Red had stayed with Granny. And finally, now, her friends in that very castle possibly figuring out her plan to see him as often as possible.

But it was that very sense of danger she longed for and which continued to attract her to him. She could blame her parents or Granny for it if she wished to, however now she was too far beyond caring. Blaming their overprotective ways wouldn't change where her heart or loyalty now laid. For that she knew she would find her way back to him time and again. In this life and the next.

The End


End file.
